


I'll Be There For You

by Groot_Is_God



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fever, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) Friendship, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, POV Shiro (Voltron), Platonic Cuddling, Sick Character, Sickfic, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 01:17:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17356226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Groot_Is_God/pseuds/Groot_Is_God
Summary: Keith, in front of the other paladins, isn’t a touchy-feely person. He tries his absolute hardest to keep up his emo reputation, as Lance had called it, when the others are around. Making this action very out of character.Shiro wrapped an arm around his teammate. “You sure you’re ok?” He asks again, looking intently at the top of Keith’s head.“Yeah, I’m just pretty full.” Keith conceded tiredly.orKeith gets sick on the castle and Shiro takes care of him.





	I'll Be There For You

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, jumping into the Voltron fandom here for the first time as a writer! I've been planning this one out for a week or so, it's based off a tumblr post I saw and I'd credit said post and the op but I can't find it again so welp… The ending is pretty choppy but for my first foray into the wide world of Voltron writing I'm pretty happy with it!
> 
>  
> 
> This is not beta read if anyone's wondering, so if you see a problem let me know in the comments!

Shiro exited the kitchen after dinner, expecting to find the hallway empty. Instead Keith was trudging towards the common room.

That was strange, Shiro thought. Keith had left the kitchen a good two minutes before he had. And Keith isn’t one to waste time while moving, that’s for sure.

Shiro walked up behind him, making sure his steps were loud enough so he didn’t scare Keith. They stepped in tandem for a few moments before Shiro looked up at his friend. Keith hadn’t even acknowledged his presence.

“You ok?” Shiro asked quietly. Keith jumped faintly and glanced up at Shiro. He stared for a moment before responding.

“Yeah, just tired.” Keith muttered, looking down again.

Shiro thought that over for a moment, before realizing that it didn’t make sense. The night before the whole group had had a movie night watching an Altean classic Allura had insisted they watched. No one had found it quiet as interesting as Coran and Allura had seemed to, and Keith had fallen asleep about half way through, which was early for him.

But seeing that Keith had no interest in talking to him, Shiro dropped it. He continued his into the common room, noticing how he had still beat Keith there. He settled down onto a couch and listened to Pidge, Lance, and Hunk chatter.

It’s amusing how many directions a conversation between those three can go in such a short amount of time. Just for the dobash or so he had been sitting there they had talked about weblums, the alkari, and how Altean time works.

Shiro’s thoughts were interrupted by a weight landing on his shoulder. He looked down to see Keith’s black hair. Shiro smiles slightly, but his eyes display more concern.

Keith, in front of the other paladins, isn’t a touchy-feely person. He tries his absolute hardest to keep up his emo reputation, as Lance had called it, when the others are around. Making this action very out of character. Shiro wrapped an arm around his teammate.

“You sure you’re ok?” He asks again, looking intently at the top of Keith’s head.

“Yeah, I’m just pretty full.” Keith conceded tiredly.

Keith _had_ eaten a lot, they all had. But this was still uncharacteristic of Keith. And if Keith’s admitting to something being the slightest bit wrong, then it’s probably worse than he’s letting on.

“Aww look, Keith’s falling asleep! Do you need a blanket?” Lance teased lightheartedly.

“Shut up Lance.” Keith slurred slightly, swatting a floppy hand in Lance’s direction. Shiro caught his hand and returned it to where it was previously resting. Lance snickered and returned to his conversation with Pidge and Hunk who were giving Keith a slightly hesitant and concerned look.

“He was being a meanie.” Keith whined under his breath, so quietly Shiro had to strain to hear it.

Something was definitely wrong with Keith. If Shiro wasn’t sure before (which he was but didn’t say anything for Keith’s sake) he is now. Keith might be rash and hotheaded, but he doesn’t act childish. And _that_ was childish.

Shiro ruffled Keith’s hair with his flesh hand, something he did quite often. He subtly felt the younger boy’s forehead, and unsurprisingly the warmth of a fever met his hand. Would it have been faster to just feel Keith’s forehead outright? Probably. But even in this subdued state there was no way Keith was going to let him do that in front of the others.

“Hey, we’re going to go mess around with the gladiator bots, you want to come Keith?” Hunk offered, drawing Shiro’s attention back to the others.

“No.” Keith whispered, surprising them all.

“What? You always- “Lance started.

“Come on Lance.” Pidge interrupted, coming to the rescue. She grabbed Lance’s arm and pulled him away as he sputtered words.

Keith dug his face farther into Shiro’s shoulder.

“He ok?” Hunk mouthed, brow creased in concern. Shiro shrugged slightly, but the look in his eyes told Hunk all he needed to know.

“Let us know if you need anything.” Hunk mouthed, then left the room in the same direction Pidge and Lance had gone. Shiro shifted Keith down so he was sprawled across the couch, his head resting in Shiro’s lap. Shiro continued moving his fingers soothingly through Keith’s hair.

“Be honest with me, how are you feeling.” Shiro asked, stopping his hand. Keith made a small noise at the sudden lack of movement on his head.

“I don’t know.” He murmured.

Shiro stared down at the black-haired teen. He knew that admitting something was wrong was a huge step for Keith, but he couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed that Keith wouldn’t tell him more.

“I think I want to go to bed.” Keith said somewhat suddenly. “Can you come with me?”

This worked out in Shiro’s favor. He was planning on trying to get Keith to go to bed soon anyways and getting a willing Keith to bed was so much easier than an unwilling Keith. Plus, once they got to Keith’s room maybe he would tell him how he really felt. But Shiro didn’t have to wait that long.

“I’m feeling kind of nauseous.” Keith disclosed quietly.

Shiro blinked, unsure of what to say. He was expecting to deal with feverish Keith, not sick to his stomach Keith. This was a whole different ballpark.

“Are you going to puke?” Shiro asked.

“I- I don’t think so.” Keith stammered hesitantly, swallowing thickly.

Shiro didn’t quite believe him, but it was better to take his word for it. “Ok, let’s go to your room then.”

Keith sat up shakily and stood. As soon as he was upright the color drained from his face and his eyes widened. He dashed out into the hall towards the bathroom. Shiro swore and ran out after him.

He found Keith kneeling in front of the toilet breathing hard. Closing the door, which Keith had left wide open in his haste, Shiro knelt down next to Keith and assessed the situation. Keith’s bangs were plastered to his forehead by sweat and he kept burping nauseously into the water. Shiro grabbed a hair-tie from the counter, courtesy of Pidge, and tied Keith’s hair back.

“I know you hate vomiting, but if it’s coming up you’ve got to let it.” Shiro warned warmly. Keith was a bit emetophobic. It wasn’t the sight of puke that got to him, everyone was used to it with Hunk’s motion sickness. Instead it was the loss of control that one felt, and Keith _hated_ losing control.

Keith swallowed thickly. “I- It won’t- Can you?” Keith stammered, his body trembling. Shiro knew exactly what he was asking without him having to fully ask it. They had done this many times before back on Earth whenever Keith was sick, which was a lot because Keith never took breaks and ran himself down which Shiro chided him for. Then Keith would point out how hypocritical Shiro was being and Shiro would tell him his second favorite line. Do as I say, not as I do.

Now wasn’t the time for sweet recollections, not when Keith was trembling over the toilet bowl. Shiro placed his flesh hand on Keith’s stomach and spread his fingers out, keeping his Galra hand on his back rubbing soothing circles. He could feel stomach acid churning violently under his flesh hand, causing Shiro to feel a pang of sympathy.

Keith looked up at him and nodded slightly, eyes hazy with fever. Shiro, taking that as silent permission, dug his fingers slightly into Keith’s stomach. Keith’s eyes widened as his head shot down. He coughed wetly into the water, burping at the end.

“Shiro- “Keith whined painfully, his voice cracking.

“I know buddy.” Shiro soothed. He massaged Keith’s stomach lightly once more before digging his fingers in farther. It did the trick, Keith coughed wetly one last time before heaving a heavy torrent of liquid into the toilet. Shiro wrapped his flesh arm around Keith’s middle, holding him steady as he continued to heave. He watched in mild disgust as murky brown liquid swirled in the toilet bowl as Keith added more and more to it.

Finally, after what seemed like forever (while in reality it was only a minute or two) Keith slumped back against Shiro’s body, seemingly empty. Shiro, while careful not to jostle Keith too much, moved to flush the toilet, replacing the gross water with clean water.

Shiro set Keith gently against the wall and got up to retrieve a cup of water and a towel. He handed the towel to Keith who sluggishly wiped his mouth. They traded items, Keith taking a sip of water while Shiro disposed of the towel in the sink for someone to take care of later.

Once Keith was done drinking Shiro broke the silence. “Do you feel empty enough to go to your room now?” Shiro asked, studying his friend. Keith’s skin was clammy and pale, the only color on his face a fever blush across his nose and cheeks.

Keith hummed in quiet confirmation, his eyes slipping shut in exhaustion. Shiro gingerly picked his up and carried the teen to his room, settling him on his bed. He went to the dresser and found Keith’s pajama shirts. Bringing one over, Shiro tried to remove Keith’s puke stained shirt but Keith shrugged him off.

“Do you want to smell like vomit all night?” Shiro questioned, humor glinting in his eyes.

Keith opened his eyes slightly and glared but allowed Shiro to remove and replace his shirt. Once the shirt was on, Shiro helped Keith lay down. He sat next to the sick boy and Keith pillowed his head on Shiro’s lap, his eyes drifting shut again.

“Paladins come to the training room please, I would like to do a bit of training before bed.” Allura announced over the loudspeaker.

“Quiznak.” Shiro muttered. He gently tried to move Keith’s head off him, but Keith burrowed his head further into Shiro’s thighs.

“You’ve got to let me get up.” Shiro said, smiling.

“Don’t go.” Keith mumbled, turning his head to squint at Shiro hazily.

“I’ll be right back.” Shiro promised, tousling the red paladin’s hair. “I have to go tell the others you’re not feeling well.”

Keith made a noise of distaste but moved his head off Shiro. Making sure Keith was comfortable before leaving, Shiro made his way to the training deck.

“Ah, there you are Shiro.” Allura greeted, looking up from the data she was reviewing. Her face grew into one of confusion as she looked around him. “Where’s Keith?”

“He went to bed.” Shiro informed her.

“Bed? This early?” Pidge squawked, glancing up. Shiro mentally facepalmed. He had hoped to keep this conversation between him and Allura, so he could get back to Keith faster. But now it seemed they had an audience as the other paladins came over to listen.

“Keith’s feeling under the weather.” Shiro reported.

“Under what weather?” Allura asked, her forehead creasing in confusion.

“Not actual weather. It just means he was feeling a little sick.” Hunk explained. Allura nodded in understanding, but her face still looked a bit confused.

“Mullet should still come down and at least watch.” Lance commented.

“Yes, I agree with Lance, Keith should still come down and watch, even if he can’t train.” Allura decided.

“Ok, under the weather was a bit of an understatement.” Shiro admitted. “He just threw up and is running a pretty high fever.”

The others stared at him for a moment, processing the information they had just received. Hunk was the first one to respond, jumping right into caretaker mode.

“Does he need anything? I have blankets and I can make him soup- “Hunk rambled.

“He’s fine for now, but I need to get back to him.” Shiro cut in. While he loved Hunk, he didn’t have time to listen to him talk right now.

Allura nodded carefully and Shiro exited the room the way he had come in. He made his way back to Keith’s room and opened the door, careful to keep it quiet. Keith lifted his head as Shiro entered and made a small sound of discomfort as he tossed and turned on the bed in an apparent effort to get comfortable.

“Shiro…” Keith whined, his head flopping in Shiro’s direction.

“Yeah?” Shiro prompted, sitting on the end of Keith’s bed.

“Everything hurts.” Keith muttered pitifully.

Shiro moved up to the head of the bed and leaned back against the wall. Keith automatically put his head in Shiro’s lap and settles down, his breathing slowing. Shiro played gently with Keith’s hair, massaging his head.

Once he was sure Keith was going to stay asleep, Shiro got out his tablet and set the brightness as low as it could go. He started scrolling through Pidges data, completely content. Did he expect to be taking care of a sick Keith tonight? No, but he wouldn’t change it for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments give me life! Please give me life!
> 
> Also check out my tumblr at Groot-Is-God.tumblr.com


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